Thursday, December 07, 2006

The Warrior from Crawford and the Dead in Iraq

Ten soldiers died yesterday in Bush's war. Twentynine, so far in December. The Baker-Hamilton Report (ISG) leaves no doubt about the fallacies of the war that President Bush and the neocons led us into. The sad fact is that many more will die before the exit from Iraq takes place.

Paul Wolfowitz, one of the prime architects, must be happy to be out of it, running the World Bank. VP Cheney has stopped issuing his Strangelovian statements. Donald Rumsfeld paid the price for his role. Condoleezza Rice is reinventing herself. The smirk is gone but President Bush continues to defend his position. We'll hear more platitudes after his meeting with Prime Minister Blair. For reasons that mystify, Blair became a true believer in the Bush doctrine. He, too, paid a price for hitching his star to Bush.

Why did 20-year old Lance Corporal Thomas P. Echols (1st BN, 6th Marine Reg, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force) become a casualty on December 4th. What did he die for? Someone must be held responsible for his death, the deaths of other soldiers, and the more than half a million Iraqis who died directly or indirecly from Operation Iraqi Freedom that we foisted on them. President Clinton faced impeachment for diddling with Monica Lewinsky in the White House. The human and financial costs of the war in Iraq are more than enough to call for impeachment of President Bush.